This series lists prominent Republicans and Donald Trump’s former associates who have now turned on him. And shows their reasons. Is there an end in sight?
Click here for parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen. This is part twenty.
Click on the name for the source of the quote.
110. Paul Rosenzweig, senior counsel to Kenneth Starr in the Whitewater investigation and senior Homeland Security executive for George W Bush:
“Bannon’s alleged criminality really is commonplace, cheap and tawdry. There is a faint air of ludicrousness about him and the others in Trump’s criminal inner circle. In their hackneyed criminality and in their fealty to a con man, they are more pathetic and pitiable than they are evil and malevolent. And their leader is revealed, more clearly every day, as nothing more than a hustler and a scam artist. Bannon is just the latest evidence of that sad reality.” [21 August, 2020]
111. Evan McMullin, former Republican, CIA operations officer for George W Bush:
“Trump will do whatever he can to use our greatest fears, frustrations and ambitions to turn us against each other, because uniting on higher ground in defense of the nation presents the greatest threat to him.” [6 November, 2018]
112. Mona Charen, speechwriter for Republican First Lady Nancy Reagan, then communications staffer for President Ronald Reagan.
“Trump is incapable of doing the basics of his job as president, and he is undone by a crisis that requires more than the basics. Flailing and floundering in an emergency that requires sustained attention, comprehension and teamwork, he is resorting to the magician's trick of misdirection.” [24 July, 2020]
113. Gary Cohn, Trump’s National Economic Council director 2016–2018:
"We had an interesting nucleus of people when I was in the White House – the initial team. We were not bashful. It was a group that was willing to tell the President what he needed to know, whether he wanted to hear it or not. None of us are there any more. So I am concerned that … no one has the personality to stand up and tell the President what he doesn't want to hear.” [3 December, 2019]
114. Alison Siefert, lifelong Michigan Republican:
“I can’t stand by and honor a choice for president who ... doesn’t listen to experts, a person who has taken no responsibility for the condition of the pandemic that we’re living in currently, a person who appoints people to his cabinet who have zero desire to work for us, and only to meet their own needs.” [July, 2020]
115. Charles from California:
“I grew up embracing Republican ideals. I idolized Lincoln and Roosevelt and Reagan ... But now I watch as Trump twists this country’s leadership into his own personal podium for spreading fear and uncertainty ... In short, he’s done everything that the Republican Party has stood against – unilateral, unchecked and blatant misuse of power.” [14 June, 2020]
116. James Comey, Trump’s former FBI director:
“Even-handed law enforcement has disappeared from the Justice Department under Bill Barr and Donald Trump. It shouldn't matter whether Trump likes you or not. Everybody should get a fair shake. The truth is under attack both by the attorney general and the president. Those things matter. That's why I'm speaking for the first time.” [23 August, 2020]
And from the archives:
117. ~ Gordon Humphrey, Republican former senator for New Hampshire:
“Serious crises are bearing down on us. We cannot leave our national security and our families’ safety in the hands of a President whose poor judgement, belligerence, vindictiveness and reckless impetuosity constitute an indictment of his mental health. Donald Trump should be relieved of the powers of the presidency at the earliest date." [11 August, 2017]
To be continued ...
Readers’ tips in the comments are invited.
